14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 19, 1997 FRIDAYFOCUS - Al i t Atlantic City's 'everthing old sparkle. again' I'S new A TLANT1C CITY, N.J. - To many, the Miss America Pageant is little more than an annual swimsuit show. But to the hundreds of pageant devo- tees who spend their lives preparing for the sparkling September evening, and the thousands more supporters who gather in Atlantic City to watch it, the pageant is more than just two and a half hours of entertainment - it's a tradition, and even a way of life. "It's just part of us," said Allen Pergament, an Atlantic City native who has childhood memories of the host city's pageants. Pergament's history with the pageant goes back to age five, when he sold empty peach baskets at the Friday boardwalk parade to onlook- ers who wanted a better view. His wife, Marlene, has contributed to the pageant by serving as a contestant hostess - a woman who accompanies a particular contestant throughout the course of the pageant. More than 200 volunteers devote two weeks each September to make the dream of the pageant a reality for 51 young women. Pageant volunteers go to great extents to accommodate the contes- tants. Press Director Tessa Goldsmith said the staff held a "Down on the Farm" day where volunteers dressed up in costumes to make the contestants more comfortable. The most devoted fans by far are the people who work for the Miss America Pageant Program on the local and state levels. Contestant said. "It's just wonderful. You remem- ber all the excitement." Yet many supporters who flock to Atlantic City have no affiliation with the pageant at all. Each year, the women in Christine McCarthy's family leave their men behind and travel from Voorhees, N.J. for a girls-only night at the Friday evening parade. "It's just like a good, old-fashioned tradition in America," McCarthy said. "It gets people excited, some patriotic- ness for their state." Absecon, N.J. residents Barbara and Carmen Melone said they still enjoy attending pageant festivities, despite this year's lack of the traditionally elaborate floats sponsored by Atlantic City casinos. "I think it's a tradition that is Atlantic City," Carmen Melone said. "There's nothing else like this. There never was and there never will be." The pageant tradition began in 1920 as a swimsuit contest. It was started as a way to extend the summer by giving tourists an incentive to stay in Atlantic City for an extra week after their Labor Day vacations. Since then, the Miss America organi- zation has evolved into the world's largest provider of scholarships exclu- sively for women, giving nearly $32 million in scholarship money last year. To modernize the event, the pageant has shifted its focus toward the promo- tion of talent and scholarship efforts, but still includes the swimsuit competi- tion despite the controversy surround- ing it. Two years ago, pageant viewers had the chance to phone in and voice their opinion on whether the swimsuit com- petition should remain a part of the competition. The public voted in favor of keeping the segment. The pageant attracts its share of folk who disapprove of its philosophy. Absent from this year's events was "the meat woman" - a semi-annual visitor who, according to Miss America veterans, would stand outside the convention hall draped in meat to protest what some consider to be the objectification of women by beauty pageants. Even those who dn't seem like the pageant type make time in their sched- ules to attend. Photographer Annie Liebowitz said she chose to attend this year's pageant to get another look at women for her upcoming book on women. "The whole thing is steeped in con- troversy," said Liebowitz, adding that if it was up to her, she would get rid of the swimsuit portion of the competi- tion. "I love tradition," Liebowitz said. "If they can still have tradition and make things better, I think it's great." Some who attend the pageant make sport of its shallow image - but in good fun. Pam Goodman and several of her male and female friends dressed as mock contestants for Saturday evening's show. Wearing black cock- tail dresses and suits, the group sported 9 "I don't think there's a ,greater opportunity for women than this program. - Tom Skogen Miss Wisconsin executive board member entourages are usually composed of at least a dozen pageant represen- tatives who travel from all corners of the country in hopes that their "Miss" will be chosen to wear the crown. "I don't think there's a greater opportunity for women than this program," said Tom Skogen, a member of America executive Wisconsin's Miss1 board. Jon Ferguson, who has been involved with the Miss Jefferson pageant in Lakewood, Colo., since 1972, said members of "the pageant culture" compose a tightly knit group that returns annually. "It's like a big family reunion," Ferguson said. There is also a considerable showing every year by former contestants, whose hearts fill with nostalgia as they sit in the audience, remembering their moment in the spotlight. Returning for her 10th anniversary was Kay Lani Rae Rafko, the former Miss Michigan who won the Miss America crown in 1987. "You come here and you just get goosebumps and chills all over," Rafko homemade banners printed with titles " (Above)Miss like "Miss Demeanor," "Miss Take" Mississippi Myra and "Miss Ellaneous."f Barginear sings a "We love entertainment," said lsal talina Goodman, who came from vocal piece,,"Una Philadelphia to see the pageant for her vdring talent first time. "Anything that's positive"et Although no official tally is taken, com ttion the gay community makes up a large Thursday, Sept. part of the pageant's audience. "I've lways said that,(the people who attend pageants) are no more than ;(Right) Miss the contestants, fat people and (gays)," North Carolina said Paul Williams, an openly horno- Michelle Warren sexual stand-up comedian from New sings ".And I'm York. belling you I'm "Gay men always put beauty on such notgoing" during a high pedestal," Williams said. "It ' the talent gives them a chance to live out their competition. own fantasies." . arren was the Despite their diversity, there is gen- overal:runner-up eral feeling of camaraderie among in'the Miss those attending the pageant. America On the night of'the pageant, hotel competition. elevators are jammed with visitors dis- cussing their hometowns and placing verbal bets on their favorite contes- tants. Walking down the boardwalk, peo- ple seek out folks from their own'state -identifiable by the contestant's but- ton they're likely wearing-'to share words of encouragement. Pergament said the pageant's great est accomplishment would he to use its , spirit to cure social ills. "Wouldn't it be great if we acted this. way toward some of the problems in the world?" Pergament said. After.all, the Miss America Pageant.Y: is a place where dreams can come true,. ' (right) MissDistrict of Columbia Sonya Gavankar sings "The Power of the Dream" on the second night of preliminary competitIons. (left) Miss California Rebekah Ann Keller participates in a revue : f deoicting the Miss America 0' 0 21 IMF* AIMUM I